Hi Jeff, If you look at the deck, one or more of those pulleys is a tensioner, It pushes against the belt to tighten it, The rest of the pulleys can be identified by the fact that they only have a bolt through the middle, whereas the tensioner is mounted on an adjustable arm with a slot to allow adjustment. It should also be the only one that the belt doesn't go around the pully it just pushes on one side.If the tensioner arm is all the way to the end of the slot, the belt is streched and will need replaced but sounds like it may have come loose. Some of these decks also have a spring on the tensioner arm and those come off from a stick or other debris. Check it out and if you have a problem let me know and I will try to come up with a diagram. If your mower is that new there should be a belt diagram on the deck. i will need a model number of the deck or mower for that. Good luck!
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Hi again guys, Jackson, I did not mention what I thought was obvious so I apologize for not being more clear. The arm that you move to engage the belt is different from the idler pulley(the tensioner) If the linkage is messed up or the spring or the assembly that engages the belt, the common failure is that the arm feels loose or you can feel the blades slipping when you engage them. It may even squeal or smoke a little but this is a different symptom than when you engage the blades and they seem to work but won't cut the grass. Let me know if you need more help.
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Craftsman decks have a positive stop adjustment for the decks. A spring atached to the blade ingadgement arm pulls the tension pully into position if the cable is rusted inside the sleeve it wont put enough pull on the ingadgment pully and thus the blades dont spin full force the belts on the mowers have no adjustments only the pully . second thing is you may want to drop the deck and clean around that pully by scraping any rust off the surface under the pullys slide good luck
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Joboo,thanks for the reply,the belts look Ok But things are a little loose around the deck I'm not sure how to adjust.Thanks again any help is appreciated..
jeffjc
jaboo1,Thanks, it will take me a couple hours before I can go check out ,I appreciate you taking the time to help me out.
jeffjc
jaboo1, I have craftsman18.5 ohv intech 42'' cut 4 years old, I checked out your suggestion and found the belts to be very loose, thats what I meant by loose around the deck, all the pulleys seem to be sturdy and tight.I don't know how to adjust belts. I appreciate any advice.
thanks,jeffjc
Thanks jaboo 1, I'll get back with You.
jeffjc..
I have the same problem of the blades not engaging. The blades move easily when the mower is engaged. I can see the wire tighten but nothing moves to make the belt tight. Any suggestions?
Hi again jaboo1, i need more help with adjusting the belts.. the model # is 917-273811 DL..T 3000 18,5 OHV briggs & stratton..
thanks again.
jeffjc
In my problem the blades will not engage at all. I push the knob forward but nothing happens at all. The blades do not even attempt to turn. I can see the wire underneath tighten but the wire itself does not make anything move or engage.
Hi again, With the mower off and the deck in the lowest position engage the blades and then check how tight the blade drive belt is. Also I do not know which deck you have but check the blade spindles, they should not feel loose. The belt to the spindles should be tight. Raise the deck and try to move the blades by hand, they should not move easily if at all when engaged but will move freely when not. Get back to me with a model and your best assessment of what you find. I also don't know what a little loose around the deck means. Thanks
Hi, have you checked the belts?
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